Cathy Elliott: Rebel with a cause: Use portfolios to see the entire student

Relational marking, a variant of negotiated marking, is part of the ungrading movement. It emphasises learning, regular feedback, and taking all of a student's work during a term into consideration. Thus, it is in direct opposition to anonymous marking where only the final output counts. Portfolios are very well suited for relational marking, and students - as well as faculty - reap enormous benefits when taking this approach, as Cathy Elliott shares in this episode. Professor Dr Cathy Elliott, SFHEA, is Vice Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences at University College London (UCL), UK. She teaches a political science class on nature and supports over 1,000 faculty and 7,000 students in the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences at UCL. Resources Elliott, C. (2025). Against anonymity: Relational marking and awarding gaps. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (Special Issue 35: Liberating Learning). Blum, S. D. (Ed.). (2020). Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead). West Virginia University Press. National Union of Students. (2008). Mark my words, not my name: The campaign for anonymous marking. 'Freedom to learn' movement at UCL Related episodes Cathy Elliott: Creativity and feedback in assessment portfolios Cathy Elliott: Have fun, be flexible, and encourage feedback in your portfolio Fergus Green: The portfolio is a bit like jazz Zala Volcic: Develop community, relationships, and compassion Debbie Oesch-Minor and Salsabil Qaddoura: Foster student ownership and empowerment through a portfolio Subscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios. Production information Production: Catalyst IT Host: Kristina Hoeppner Artwork: Evonne Cheung Music: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward